Contents

Queen Cersei Lannister bribes Ser Bronn not to aid Tyrion by arranging for him to marry Lollys Stokeworth. Tyrion points out that Lollys has an older sister and therefore Castle Stokeworth will pass to her, not to Lollys. Bronn is aware of Lollys's older sister, but Falyse is childless, past forty years old, and barren. Bronn also bluntly implies that he intends to arrange for an "accident" to befall Falyse, so that after her death Lollys will inherit Castle Stokeworth.[1]

Lollys Stokeworth and her newly betrothed Ser Bronn of the Blackwater walk on the grounds outside the castle, as Lollys talks excitedly about plans for their upcoming wedding. Bronn muses that he never thought he'd end up settling down in a fine a place as this. Confused, Lollys corrects him that after her mother (Tanda Stokeworth) dies, the castle will pass to her sister, because she is older than Lollys. She also says that her sister hates her, calls her names, and even still she pulls Lollys's hair when she thinks their mother isn't looking. Bronn assures Lollys that her sister is mean, and mean people always end up getting what's coming to them - clearly still holding to his plan to surreptitiously kill off Falyse after he marries Lollys.

They then see that Jaime Lannister has arrived at the castle. He privately informs Bronn that he needs him to accompany a secret mission he is taking to Dorne. To encourage Bronn to go, the Lannisters have now promised Lollys to Wyllis Bracken: Jaime vaguely promises that they will find Bronn a better bride with an even bigger castle, though Bronn is not amused.[2]

In the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, House Stokeworth is headed by Lady Tanda Stokeworth, an aged woman who seeks to marry off her daughter Lollys. Their words are "Proud to be Faithful."

During the Targaryen Conquest, Aegon I Targaryen's army landed at the mouth of the Blackwater River, on the northern bank (at the location where the city of "King's Landing" was later constructed). Aegon had three thousand soldiers and three dragons. Rosby and Stokeworth were the first two strongholds in the path of the Targaryen army: faced with such a force, and only able to muster their small local garrisons, both Rosby and Stokeworth surrendered without a battle. Duskendale and Maidenpool also soon surrendered after brief engagements. Their armies were then added to the Targaryen forces and continued on through the rest of the conquest.

After the Conquest, the Targaryens built a new capital city at the site of their initial landing point, King's Landing, and carved out territory from the surrounding kingdoms to create an entirely new administrative sub-division of the continent to support the new city: the Crownlands. As part of the Crownlands, House Stokeworth subsequently held direct fealty to House Targaryen and the Iron Throne, not one of the other Great Houses.

During the reign of Aerys II, Manly Stokeworth was Commander of the City Watch. He was succeeded in the position by Janos Slynt. Littlefinger remarked that the widowed Lady Tanda has no love for the Lannisters: it is quite possible that Manly was in fact her husband, and that he died during the Sack of King's Landing committed by Tywin Lannister's army.

House Stokeworth seems to be one of the important major families from the Crownlands - though not quite as important as rulers of Rosby and Duskendale, given that Castle Stokeworth has not appeared on official maps of the Crownlands, though it has been mentioned that it is located on the road between Rosby and Duskendale. Even so they are not a vassal of any other noble House, and are an important supplier of food shipments to the capital.

During the War of the Five Kings, with the two major breadbasket regions of both the Riverlands and the Reach rising in rebellion (for Robb and Renly, respectively), food shipments to King's Landing from outside of the Crownlands cease. Soon after Tyrion Lannister arrives, he notes that the lands of House Rosby and House Stokeworth combined are supplying fully half of the food shipments that are still entering the capital city, so it would be best not to offend them. These continued shipments manage to keep the city and its garrison relatively functional, but the food shortages still cause prices to drastically increase, leading to much suffering among the city's poor.